Beating ongoing fuel and energy crisis

The shortage of fuel and energy has brought the whole of Sri Lanka to a standstill and its citizenry of all walks to mile-long queues. It disrupts social movements, economic activities, business and production of all scales in all the sectors. 

Addressing Parliament, on June 7, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe stated that we have to find US $ 3,300 million for fuel and US $ 250 million for gas over the next six months and that “we need to find new ways as an alternative to the traditional ways, if we are to elevate the country from this position”. Whole of his speech spells out new ways of begging and borrowing to continue the current extravagant consumption pattern of fuel and energy. 

1. From fossil fuel to bio energy
Fossil fuel is used in almost all sectors such as transport, agriculture, fisheries, industry and electricity generation. According to petroleum authorities, the daily consumption of fuel in the electricity sector is four times of that is used in the transport sector. 

Engineers like Parakrama Jayasinghe, Joseph in the Bio Energy Association have repeatedly spoken and written about alternative new ways open to this tropical island blessed by nature, with sufficient rain, year-round sunshine, blowing wind and other bio mass material.

They have made a clarion call for developing the indigenous renewable energy options such as small hydro, dendro, agro waste, municipal waste, solar, wind for power and energy generation. I am sure a copy of the report ‘100 Percent Electricity Generation Through Renewable Energy By 2050’ Assessment of Sri Lanka’s Power Sector Co-Publication of the Asian Development Bank and United Nations Development Programme 2017 is available in the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) library collecting dust. The prime minister can direct the CEB higher ups and engineers to turn a page or two of this report for a change.

Economics is all about using the scarce resources to satisfy unlimited needs of the people. Water is a main source in electricity generation. There are several ministries, departments, boards and projects dealing with water. Officers and professionals in these organisations would not have missed the geography lesson we learned in Grade 8 about annual rain pattern and trends. 

We all experience, year-on-year, how and when the rains starts and ceases. In Sri Lanka, the issue is not inadequacy of water but the absence of water management. Water management is alien to us. We are a nation that lives mostly in the history. We recall irrigation engineering marvels of King Parakramabahu.

Our professionals, experts and scientists attached to the irrigation, Mahaveli, water and power and energy sector simply let the rain water gushing down to the sea, causing all possible damages to people and their property. Then we supplement with imported fossil fuel to satisfy the unlimited needs. We cover our eyes and noses when we see waste and glee at imported dirty polluted fossil fuel.  

2. Bringing service to people
The prime minister has stated, “Our mission is to create a public service that will enable a citizen to receive immediate and efficient services throughout their lives without any hassle.” 

Maybe he is not aware that the entire population living in the 25 districts is moving to the Colombo district to receive this immediate and efficient service. Some are queuing up in Battaramulla from previous day to get their National Identity Card or the passport. Some others are in Werahera to get their driving licence. Some are in Narahenpita to get their EPF/ETF benefits sorted out. Retirees are in Maligawatta to place their signature on the paper to get their meagre pension. 

They are all using public transport, their own or hired vehicles. These vehicles are clogged all over creating congestion. Most come with the entire family, including children of all ages.  Agony they undergo in looking for a place to feed the toddler, quench their thirst and answer the call of nature and the congestion and pollution created is indescribable. Apart from this pathetic picture, this causes waste of a colossal amount of fuel and energy generated using imported fossil fuel.

All these people reside in a district. Relevant information and documents are available in the district. Information and documents are certified and recommended in the district. The delivery agencies have their branches equipped with information portal, online facilities, equipment and human resources in the district. 

However, delivery of all basic services is concentrated in the Colombo district. People are compelled to come with information and documents to Colombo. 

The prime minister can give a directive to walk the talk to taking the service delivery to where people reside, instead of bringing people to where the service is delivered. This will stop the agonized journeys of citizens and hardship they undergo and save a sizable quantum of fuel, time, finance and resources. The prime minister can realise his mission and can hit several ‘Kaputas’, sorry, birds with one stone.

3. From private transport to public transport
During last 40 odd years there has been a rapid increase of private vehicles on the road. The efficiency, convenience and service of public transport have drastically reduced. Buses are overloaded while individual vehicles are grossly underoccupied. Space occupied and the fuel used by individual vehicles is disproportionately high. A considerable number of these individual vehicles is vehicles assigned to officials by the government. Assigned vehicles can be replaced with a handsome transport allowance. 

Officers would tend to use common transport, shared transport or public transport or non-motorised modes or even foot. Further, incentives or penalties could be introduced to discourage underoccupied vehicles. These are practiced all over the world except in this blessed island. Tried and abandoned ‘park and drive system’ could be reintroduced. With better management, planning and supervision, the public transport system can be diversified and improved to the liking of people of all walks. 

We maintain a railway service with coaches, infrastructure, human capital and facilities at an insurmountable cost. It is grossly underutilised. In addition to carrying a few season ticket holders, railway can be used for cargo and fuel transport, luxury travel with private sector participation and intercity travel. 

Railway can supplement road transport and replace internal air transport that gobbles barrels of fuel. The prime minister has urged citizens to refrain from excessive use and hoarding fuel and gas. That is for you and me. When I was doing my morning walk, a helicopter landed at Diayata Uyana with a wedding couple. 

Harnessing the expertise and knowledge already available in the country, experience gathered during our official visits abroad while doing shopping and with inter agency coordination could assure a reliable, convenient, efficient and punctual public transport system. It would discourage and decline the use of individual transport modes. The savings of fuel and energy would be more than what the prime minister can import with his charms indebting the nation for generations.

4. Virtual meetings and teaching
We love to attend meetings. We, officials, attend meetings using several assigned vehicles to exchange a few gossips and enjoy a sugar full cup of tea. The president and prime minister conduct meetings separately with same participants on the same subject. 

Of course, a president with 6.9 million votes cannot sit together with a man who got less than half a million votes. The Cabinet meetings are held every Monday. Proceedings are confidential but accessible through social media. Parliament meets periodically for a new lot of MPs to cross over to remain independent in either side of the aisle. 
Pradeshiya Sabhas are meeting to demonstrate fisticuffs and under wears. Fortunately, the Provincial Councils are dissolved. None of these meetings have produced any tangible result. All these meetings are conducted in well illuminated, well equipped, glowing and air-conditioned buildings. 

The Education Ministry provides online education on tree tops and in difficult terrain, where none of these facilities are available. The children in the rural areas anyway walk to their ‘game pasela’, jumping over water puddles and thorny bushes. The Education Ministry can educate the decision makers in Colombo on conducting virtual meetings to save fuel and energy. 

5. From single kitchen to community kitchen
In a chummery, in a hostel and in a group or when we go on a pilgrimage or pleasure trip, we do not cook or prepare food individually. We share the cost and prepare/cook food together. A community kitchen (collective/common kitchen) is a modified version of this arrangement. It is not alien in our society. Community kitchen may take the form of a charity or business venture or mixture of both. The essential idea of the community kitchen is sharing and minimising space, material, utensils, utilities, cost and food and use of energy. This can be tried out and popularised by those living in apartment blocks, high-rise buildings, congested residential areas and in large communities. 

By resorting to bio energy sources, fuel usage can be brought down significantly. Parliament while enjoying the food provided in their common kitchen can pass a motion (not one caused by overfeeding) to promote and facilitate establishing hygienic, safe and fuel economised community kitchens rather than promoting community kitchens in luxury hotels with modern facilities and draining scarce foreign exchange.

I would like to conclude my article with the same quoting of Winston Churchill used by the prime minister.
“The pessimist sees difficulty in every situation; the believer sees opportunity in every difficulty.”
(Chandrasena Maliyadde was a Ministry Secretary. He is currently a Vice President of the Sri Lanka Economic Association. He can be reached via [email protected])